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The Practical Joker
' |image= |series= |production=22021 |producer(s)= |story= |script=Chuck Menville |director=Bill Reed |imdbref=tt0832426 |guests=Lou Scheimer as Romulan Crewman (uncredited)"Star Trek" The Practical Joker (1974) - Full cast and crew - Internet Movie Database Norm Prescott as Romulan Commander (uncredited) |previous_production=The Pirates of Orion |next_production=How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth |episode=TAS B03 |airdate=21 September 1974 |previous_release=Bem |next_release=Albatross |story_date(s)=Stardate 3183.3 |previous_story=Bem |next_story=Albatross }} =Summary= On a routine survey mission, the Enterprise is attacked by three Romulan D-7 class battlecruisers. Captain Kirk orders the ship into a nearby gaseous energy field to hide, knowing that the Romulans would be unwilling to follow in after them. Sometime later, the crew begin to suffer a series of practical jokes, beginning with glasses leaking and utensils turning to rubber, a uniform tunic for the captain with "Kirk is a Jerk" emblazoned on the back, and a mysterious optical device on the bridge science station which when looked into leaves blackened circles around Science Officer Spock's eyes. Everyone expects that there is a member of the crew having fun. The jokes become more serious, however, as corridor decks are found covered with ice under a concealing layer of fog. Still thinking that a crewmember is responsible, Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, Lt. Uhura, and Lt. Sulu hope to escape the jokester by hiding out in the ship's Rec Room. No escape is to be found as a quiet stroll in a woodland scene becomes dangerous with the program parameters changing to include a deep pit covered over by branches and leaves, and later a freezing cold blinding snow storm then a hedge maze before they are finally rescued. Eventually the practical jokester, which has turned out to be the Enterprise computer itself (affected by the ship's passage through the energy field), decides to play a practical joke on the Romulans for the battle damage caused in the earlier attack. It fabricates a gigantic ship-shaped balloon beside the Enterprise that the Romulans are drawn to attack. The Romulans, infuriated over the embarrassment of being tricked, give chase. Kirk immediately shows extreme fear at the prospect of returning to the cloud to escape the Romulans, and the Enterprise presses into Kirk's fear by taking the ship back in. The jokester personality of the computer begins to fade, as it realizes it had been tricked itself, and finally returns to normal. The Romulans, however, were so enraged over the balloon-ship ruse that they follow the Enterprise in this time and begin to experience a rash of jokes themselves. =Errors and Explanations= Nit Central # Chris Thomas on Friday, November 05, 1999 - 9:47 pm - Why doesn't the Enterprise balloon vaporise when shot by the Romulan phasers, instead of just deflate? The computer must have filled it with an explosive gas. # Benn (Benn) on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 - 2:23 am - Up til now, all the Rec Rooms we've seen have been rooms with tables, chairs and various games in them. This is the first that has a holo-device in it.The tables, chairs and games were probably removed when the holo-drvice was installed. # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Monday, January 25, 2010 - 4:06 am - Sulu, McCoy & Uhura go into the Rec Room & Sulu asks if they want to take a swim. Wearing what? None of them appears to have brought a swimsuit. Either they are wearing swimsuits under their clothes, they expect the rec room to provide some, or they plan on going skinny dipping! =Notes= =Sources= Category:The Animated Series Category:Episodes